Generally speaking, 2023 has been a bit of a mixed bag for Xbox Game Pass. Though every month has had at least one heavy-hitter, 2023 hasn't brought out the big guns quite as much as it has in previous years, with most monthly offerings being lesser-known, lower-quality Indie and third-party titles. And when it comes to first-party Xbox Game Pass offerings, Redfall is all that most fans have been able to talk about since its disastrous launch. But thanks to the Xbox Showcase, that all looks like it's about to change.
Xbox has just held its annual showcase, and by all accounts, it was a pretty good presentation. Though it was shorter than both the recent PlayStation Showcase and Summer Game Fest, the Xbox Showcase had a lot more to reveal, and it featured some of the best pacing the industry has ever seen. But by far the most exciting element of the Xbox Showcase was the game reveals themselves, along with the confirmation that almost every one of them is heading to Xbox Game Pass day one.
Every Xbox Game Pass Title Announced at the Xbox Showcase
- Fable
- South of Midnight
- 33 Immortals
- Payday 3
- Persona 3 Reload
- Avowed
- Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island
- Flight Simulator 2024
- Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
- Fallout 76 Atlantic City
- Path of the Goddess
- Forza Motorsport
- Overwatch 2 New Heroes Starter Pack - Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Starfield
- Jusant
- Still Wakes the Deep
- Dungeons of Hinterberg
- Cities Skylines 2
- Towerborne
- Clockwork Revolution
Out of the 26 Xbox Showcase game announcements, a total of 21 are heading to Xbox Game Pass day one, with some pretty major huge titles in the mix. The Xbox Showcase kicked things off with a fantastical bang, debuting the long-awaited first trailer of Playground's Fable reboot. With a wonderfully satirical trailer that turns the fantasy genre on its head, it seems as though Fable is in good hands. Payday 3 got its first reveal trailer during the Xbox Showcase, and though it might look a tad too familiar for those that have played Payday 2, it's still a huge pull for service, making September an incredibly busy month for Xbox Game Pass.
Avowed, another long-awaited Xbox first-party title, got its first gameplay trailer during the Xbox Showcase. Though the trailer wasn't too long, it does seem as though Obsidian is taking all of its learned lessons from previous titles and is pouring all the good bits into Avowed from a refined Elder Scrolls-esque combat system to some great fantasy world-building. Avowed is giving Xbox Game Pass a great fantasy-filled line-up for 2024. Though this is far from the first time fans have seen it in action, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 received another trailer at the Xbox Showcase, this one finally giving it a release window of 2024.
Xbox continued its first-party studio parade with a quick showing of Sea of Thieves and its brand-new Secret of Monkey Island-themed expansion. Titled Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island, this DLC crossover will be completely free for those who own the game or have it on Xbox Game Pass on July 20. Forza Motorsport got another quick trailer, and finally a release date of October 10, giving Xbox Game Pass a much healthier latter half of 2023 alongside Starfield.
But a good showcase would be nothing without the announcement of brand new, genuinely creative video games, and the Xbox Showcase had a ton, most of which are coming to Xbox Game Pass day one. South of Midnight was the second announcement of the Xbox Showcase, and its unique art style and eerie atmosphere made it an immediate standout, even if the developer's last game, We Happy Few, wasn't quite the critical success fans were hoping it to be. 33 Immortals was another exciting reveal, looking like a 33-player version of Hades. The last third of the Xbox Showcase was absolutely packed with even more reveals of a similar nature, with the relaxing puzzle climbing game Jusant, Banner Saga-successor Towerborne, and BioShock-esque Clockwork Revolution all confirming that Xbox Game Pass still has a lot of juice left in the tank, for both the rest of 2023 and the upcoming 2024.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers get a handful of games every month.